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Although the likes of Formula One and MotoGP are getting back into the swing of things, other racing series have been written off for 2020. So, to fill that gap, we’ve listed the most iconic helmets to grace European motorsports.

We’ve not just organised by the fanciest-looking lids, though – all of our picks have significance. Whether it’s the helmet Schumacher wore when he broke a near-50-year record, or Marc Marquez’s when he became MotoGP’s youngest-ever champion. That being said, a few of them are also works of wearable art.

And the admiration goes well beyond the chequered flag, with their helmets and racing suits fetching, in some cases, six-figure sums.

We’re all for debate, but when it comes to top-class racing on two wheels, there can be no contesting Valentino Rossi’s place.

The seven-time world champion – perhaps the most recognisable racer of the modern era – has had countless worthy helmets, but we’re going with the design he wore in his last championship-winning campaign in 2009. The sun-and-star style was front and centre for the Catalunya GP, where he overtook teammate Jorge Lorenzo on the last corner of the last lap to take the win – one of MotoGP’s all-time best battles.

However, Rossi sits second in the table of title holders behind compatriot Giacomo Agostini, who won seven championships on the trot between 1966 and 1972, then again in 1975. They’re joined on our roundup by current defending champion Marc Marquez, who’s broken seemingly every ‘youngest ever’ record there is since his MotoGP debut in 2013 – including, most notably, the youngest to be crowned champion.

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